Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) Short Interest Update

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, an increase of 39.1% from the February 13th total of 2,760,000 shares. Currently, 5.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 765,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Moelis & Company Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MC traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $59.61. The company had a trading volume of 600,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,936. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.74. Moelis & Company has a 52-week low of $46.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.79. Moelis & Company had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 11.39%. On average, research analysts expect that Moelis & Company will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moelis & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Moelis & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Moelis & Company’s payout ratio is currently 147.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kenneth Moelis sold 9,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $718,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,483,390. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Shropshire sold 2,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.30, for a total value of $184,437.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,762. This represents a 26.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,017 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Moelis & Company

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,433,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,784,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 804,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,141,000 after acquiring an additional 96,720 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Moelis & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,149,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Moelis & Company by 129.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 7,819 shares in the last quarter. 91.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Moelis & Company from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Moelis & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Moelis & Company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moelis & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

About Moelis & Company

Moelis & Co operates as a holding company. It engages in the provision of financial advisory, capital raising and asset management services to a client base including corporations, governments, sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors. The firm focuses on clients including large public multinational corporations, middle market private companies, financial sponsors, entrepreneurs and governments.